(the little gallery @ Polecat Communications is hosting this public art project through Aug. 28.)

The steel crane sculpture under development in Swanson’s Omaha studio.

The origami crane has become an international symbol of peace. It’s based on the Japanese legend and story of Sadako Sasaki, which says that anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish.

The Military Avenue Neighborhood Association has commissioned Omaha artist Trudy Swanson to create a steel crane sculpture that will be installed at the intersection of Military Avenue, Fontenelle Boulevard and Northwest Radial Highway – one of the gateways to North Omaha. It will stand as a permanent visual reminder of a united Omaha’s call for peace.

In conjunction with the development of the sculpture, Swanson invites residents from across Omaha to fold paper cranes and post photos of their work at www.facebook.com/omahapeaceproject.

The cranes can be dropped off at any City of Omaha Community Center, any Omaha police precinct, the Central Fire Station at 1516 Jackson, Criss Library at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the following Omaha Public Library branches through Sept. 30:

Milton R. Abrahams Branch

A.V. Sorensen

Benson Branch

Florence Branch

W. Clarke Swanson

Charles B. Washington

The cranes will then be collected, strung together and displayed at a central location. The project is a partnership of the Omaha Police Department, the Omaha Sister Cities Association, One Omaha, the Benson-Ames Alliance, the Omaha Public Library, the Omaha Box Company and Why Arts? Funding was made possible in part by Mayor Jean Stothert’s 2015 Neighborhood Grants Program.